The invention relates to a method of positioning electrical and/or electronic components on a substrate, a number of parts being simultaneously transferred from a pick-up position to a mounting position in order to be positioned on the substrate.
The increasing miniaturization in the electronics industry has given rise to the development of plate-shaped or block-shaped components devoid of connection wires, that is to say components which do not comprise the conventional comparatively long radial or axial connection wires.
These components without connection wires, also referred to as chip type components, either have contact areas on opposite faces or sides, such as capacitors, resistors, coils, or short connection studs, such as diodes and transistors. The components are arranged on a substrate having a printed wiring or circuit track pattern, with glue or solder paste being locally applied to the wiring or track side. The components have dimensions in the order of magnitude of millimeters, for example, 3.2.times.1.6 mm. In view of the small dimensions of the components and the density of the track pattern, the components must be very accurately positioned with respect to the tracks on the substrate.
A method of the kind set forth is known from U.K. Patent Application No. 2025910. According to the known method, the components are presented in the pick-up position in the same pattern in which they are to be positioned on the substrate. This pattern must be changed to match each different substrate pattern. This method is greatly dependent on the substrate and on the product and is not very flexible, which means that it is difficult to adapt the method to different substrates. The conversion times are comparatively long. Moreover, the components cannot be presented from a strip-shaped package like a tape, because the necessary space is lacking.